His eyes snapped open, but the body below him didn't move. He hovered, weightless, staring down at his own limp form. His hands were translucent, glowing faintly and shook violently. "Wha...what is this?! No, no, no, no, what did you do to me?!"
The panic in his voice cracked against the emptiness of the space, his words echoing louder than they should. His chest rose and fell even though he had no lungs, and his mind reeled at the impossible sight of himself lying below.
Uzi's eyes widened in horror as Rathra slowly pushed himself back onto his feet. The air around him felt heavier with every movement. With a casual yet unsettling calm, Rathra reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out what looked like a small, cracked stone petal. Its surface shimmered faintly, as if holding something unnatural inside.
Without hesitation, Rathra crushed it in his hand. The stone splintered apart, releasing a strange cloud of aqua-blue smoke that drifted down toward the ground. The others glanced at each other, clearly unsettled, some even confused, as if they had never witnessed such a thing before.
Then, as the smoke dissipated, Rathra raised his hand to reveal what looked like a lifeless body cradled in his grasp. Uzi instinctively drifted backward, his soul trembling at the sight. His thoughts spiraled: What is that? Why does it feel... familiar? No, no, I don't want this---
Rathra noticed Uzi's look of familiar confusion, like seeing something almost uncanny, but close enough to not disturb you, Rathra almost showed disdain at this.
Before he could retreat further, Rathra vanished in a blink and reappeared behind him. With ruthless precision, he shoved the body onto Uzi's soul, pressing them together. A shockwave of raw, unnatural energy rippled through him. Uzi's form convulsed as unbearable pain tore through every inch of his being. It felt like his essence was being ripped apart and sewn back together with burning thread. He screamed, just loud and raw, forming tears spilling freely, though no one moved to help.
Beat tilted her head, her childish yet twisted tone cutting through the sound of Uzi's cries.
"Why that body, huh? And how'd you even stuff it in a dumb little rock? Doesn't make sense."
Rathra, however, didn't respond. He didn't even glance at her. His silence was sharper than any words.
The agony within Uzi suddenly snapped away. It was like a raging fire in his chest had been doused all at once, leaving only an eerie numbness. His sobs slowed, his breaths ragged as his awareness settled again. He opened his eyes, only to realize everything had changed.
His vision was sharper, the air felt heavier, and his hands... weren't his own. Uzi looked down at his new form, horrified at the unfamiliar body that now encased his soul. His stomach twisted in dread. This isn't me. This isn't mine. What did he...what did Rathra do to me?
A few of the others chuckled under their breath, their mocking laughter cutting into him like knives. To them, it was entertainment. To Uzi, it was the beginning of something far worse than death.
The cannon man approached Rathra with his usual flawless posture, as if every step were part of a royal procession. His voice, smooth and poised, rang out like a knight addressing a king.
"Rathra," he said, bowing his head slightly, "might I request that you allow me custody of this boy? There is knowledge buried within him, knowledge that would be far better extracted under my care. Experiments, dissections of thought and memory. Imagine what truths he might yield."
Before Rathra could even part his lips, the air changed. A heavy pressure swelled outward, rolling across the chamber like a crashing wave. A faint green hue threaded through it, wrapping around every corner of the room.
Raidren remained still. Rathra, unbothered, simply narrowed his eyes. But the others, everyone else turned to its source.
The fox woman's calm face had hardened into one of cold fury. Her aura poured from her like venom seeping into the ground. She fixed the cannon man with a glare sharp enough to cut.
"Meriam!" she spat his name like a curse. Her voice trembled with rage. "You dare ask to go against Rathra's plans." she spouted. "Do you know how insulting that is, you already know he has a plan for him!'
Her presence flared brighter, nearly choking the air.
Meriam took a sigh, "My name is Meriam Inggris," He shouted, his voice carrying an edge of pride. "You improper little brat. Even if your name is filthy, It's PEKE!"
The word landed like a lash, and Beat's childish grin twisted, her mismatched eyes sparking with mischief and hate. "Look, Peke is the only other girl here!" She leaned forward, eager. "Ooooh, you wanna fight, huh? I'll make you regret saying that, Fancy Pants!"
The three bristled, All their auras now out colliding like storms about to break. Uzi's heart leapt at the sight. If they tore each other apart, maybe, just maybe, he could use the chaos to slip away. His thoughts raced. If they're distracted, if I move fast enough...
But the moment never came.
Raidren, silent until now, finally moved. His form blurred, faster than sight. In the next instant, he punted Beat into another boulder, almost smashing through it entirely, then instantly, cold steel pressed against both Peke's and Meriam's temples. A pistol in each of his hands, raised with unnerving precision.
"That's enough," he said quietly, his calm voice carrying more weight than their screaming.
Peke's lips curled, and she shot Raidren a venomous glare, clearly displeased at being interrupted. Her fingers twitched, but she didn't dare move further.
Peak's red and blue sparkly aura blasted off the boulder, heading straight towards Raidren, seemingly preparing to hit him back.
Then Rathra's voice thundered across the chamber. "STOP IT."
His aura erupted like a tidal wave, black and suffocating, blotting out everything. It swallowed everybody's energy in an instant, erasing their glow like it had never existed.
Peke collapsed to the ground face-first, her fox body pinned as if crushed under mountains. She couldn't even twitch a finger. Meriam and Beat were forced to their knees, Beat in particular since she was still in mid-air, being slammed into the boulder, they bent over and trembling, fighting just to keep upright. A single poke would have sent them sprawling.
Even Raidren, usually stoic, unshaken, noticeably shifted uncomfortably, his jaw tightening.
And Uzi?
The crushing weight bore down on him like a black hole. His lungs burned as though the air itself had betrayed him. His soul screamed, body locked in place, every bone threatening to splinter under the pressure. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't even think straight.
He's going to kill us all.